It was only yesterday that I landed up at my dear friend Abhishek Gupta’s Designer Showroom in Defence Colony. Yes, he had agreed to be by Survival Book retailer and Book councillor and I wanted to write about him and his work. Abhishek’s showroom is on the ground floor and is exquisite in its layout and texture. It was a play with a lot of wood, mirrors and lighting. Near the wall are placed all his collections in full glory: The Shalwar, The Achkan, The Kurta and an army of Dupattas and Lehengas. Our man caters to both men and women. The showroom is well-lit so that one can observe the carefully done embroideries on the various garments.

Abhishek, as far as I can remember, was a great artist even at school when we were together studying at Welham Boys’. His skills at drawing, stitching, painting and even at bardic art were of the highest quality. He almost scored 100% in Arts at the board examination. Gupta is one of the fortunate ones who found their passion so early in life and persevered with it. He studied at the famous NIFT School of Fashion and soon became an apprentice and a golden boy of Rohit Bal, the baap (father) of Indian fashion, the man who defined fashion in India. I guess after that, it was plain sailing as Abhishek opened his own showroom and now boasts an array of clients, the who’s who of Delhi. I believe that Delhi is the capital of fashion, not Mumbai. Mumbai is all Bollywood, that’s not Fashion. He explained all these as we got talking over a brief interview that I took in his showroom when he was in a more relaxed mood.

I enjoyed taking pics of his designer clothes with my zoom lens and had a ball shooting one of his lamps and many of his other Mannequins. The showroom has a very helpful and pleasant staff all very eager to serve and take the customers around. On the other wall, I saw his collection of drawing room items which could be used to decorate a tastefully done house. But it was his passion for music systems and sound that was keeping him busy these days. Abhishek is into selling ultra-high-end sound systems with room acoustics and design. Yes, he claims he can do the entire thing assembling a world-class sound and audio systems and even make your entire music room to give you ultimate and optimum sound quality. “I am designing one for actor Chiranjeevi in the south. He is a very old client of mine.” Gupta beams from ear to ear as he explained his love for music and sound system. He walked me through his music room and explained the nuances of music and sound to me.

I handed him a free copy of my e-book and thanked him for being my book retailer. With the quality of his clients, I am sure the book will do well. In him, I have found the ideal business-mate. Thank you, Abhishek. You and your showroom truly are Hot Couture.